Evil Clowns – press material (CVs), 25 September 2014
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CVs
Anonymous
Anonymous is a loosely associated international network of activist and hacktivist entities. A
website nominally associated with the group describes it as "an internet gathering" with "a
very loose and decentralized command structure that operates on ideas rather than
directives". The group became known for a series of well-publicized publicity stunts and
distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on government, religious, and corporate
websites. Anonymous originated in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, representing the concept
of many online and offline community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic, digitized
global brain. Anonymous members (known as "Anons") can be distinguished in public by the
wearing of stylised Guy Fawkes masks.
Marion Auburtin
*1978 in Metz (FR), lives and works in Paris. She studied fine arts at the Ecole Nationale
Supérieure dʼArt in Nancy (2002), and received working grants in Berlin and Toulouse (Blitz,
bourse de résidence à Berlin du CG Moselle; Résidence AutreSens Toulouse, 2005),
Luxembourg (Résidence Les Sentiers Rouges Luxembourg, 2008), Nancy (Résidence
Ergastule, 2010 / 2011), Paris (Cité Internationale des Arts, 2012 / 2014). Solo exhibitions
(selection): Loop Island, Galerie 9, Nancy, 2011; 56ème Salon de Montrouge, La Fabrique,
Montrouge, 2011; Group exhibitions (selection): Kentucky Karaoke, DMNDKT Berlin, 2014;
LʼOrigine des espèces, Galerie Russel Pick, Vincennes, 2014; The End is the Beginning, The
Wand Gallery, Berlin, 2013; Sleep Disorders #4, #5 et #6, Atelier C3, Cité internationale des
Arts, Paris, 2013; Perturbations, Musée Fabre, Montpellie, 2012; Cabinet de curiosités,
Galerie Da-End, Paris, 2012; Anthropocentrisme, Le Pays Où le Ciel est Toujours Bleu,
Orléans, 2012. www.marionauburtin.com/
Blue Noses
Blue Noses, also known as The Blue Noses Group, considered the most famous of
contemporary Russian provocateur art groups, founded in 1999 and consists of works and
exhibitions by two Siberian artists: Alexander Shaburov and Vyacheslav Mizin. Shaburov was
born in Novosibirsk, Russia in 1962. He graduated from the Novosibirsk Architectural
Institute in 1984 and he now lives and works in Novosibirsk and Ekaterinburg while Mizin
was born on August 27, 1965 in Berezovsky, Sverdlovsk Region, Russia. He graduated from
Sverdlovsk College of Arts till 1985 and he works in Ekaterinburg and Moscow.
artinrussia.org/the-blue-noses/
Barbara Breitenfellner
*1969 Kufstein/Austria, 1998 Master of Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art, lives and works in
Berlin. Solo exhibitions (selection): Fake shooting, Galerie Manzoni Schäper, Berlin, 2012;
Trauma, Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers, 2011; Traum einer Ausstellung, Hartware
MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund, 2011; An Exhibition. I made a piece for someone, Café au lit,
Paris, 2009; Traum einer großen Ausstellung. Ich hatte eine ganz doofe riesige Zeichnung
(von einem Clown) und schämte mich sehr. Zwei Mädchen machten eine Performance auf
Rollschuhen. War auch nicht so toll., Autocenter, Berlin, 2008; for group shows see
www.barbara-breitenfellner.de
The Cacophony Society
The Cacophony Society is a randomly gathered network of free spirits united in the pursuit of
experiences beyond the pale of mainstream society.” It was started in 1986 by surviving
members of the now dead Suicide Club of San Francisco (1977-1982). Cacophony has been
described as an indirect culture jamming outgrowth of the Dada movement, and the
Situationists. One of its central concepts is the Trip to the Zone, or Zone Trip, inspired by the
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1979 Film Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky. According to self-designated members of the
Society, “you may already be a member.” The anarchic nature of the Society means that
membership is left open-ended and anyone may sponsor an event, though not every idea
pitched garners attendance by members. Cacophony events often involve costumes and
pranks in public places and sometimes going into places that are generally off limits to the
public. Cacophonists have been known to regale Christmas shoppers with improvised
Christmas carols while dressed as Santa Claus, and later invite strippers to sit on Santa's lap
(SantaCon). www.cacophony.org/
Kimberly Clark
Kimberly Clark is a collective of Dutch artists (members: Iris van Dongen (*1975 ), Josepha
de Jong (*1977) and Ellemieke Schoenmaker (*1969)) whose videos, sculptures and
installations often reveal a disturbing image of unbridled night-time pleasures that even cross
the limits to excess. Their works frequently centre on a female figure, a symbol of the
suffering yet always rebellious body that has to survive on the modern battlefield of our party
society – embodied in Kimberly Clarkʼs work by mountains of consumer refuse such as
empty cigarette boxes, fag ends, shattered bottles, beer tins and ketchup.
Deichkind
Deichkind (literally 'Dyke Child') is a Hip-Hop / Electro band formed in Hamburg, Germany in
1997. Best known for this style are the singles Remmidemmi (Yippie Yippie Yeah) (2006),
Arbeit nervt (2008) and Leider geil (2012). www.deichkind.de
Constant Dullaart
Constant Dullaart (*1979, NL) studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the Rijksakademie
in Amsterdam and currently works and lives in Berlin and Amsterdam. Dullaart's work has
been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Frieze, Art-papers, Dismagazine,
Monopol, Rhizome, TAZ and Texte zur Kunst, shown internationally at venues such as the
New Museum, MassMoca and UMoca in the US, Rencontres d'Arles, Autocenter Berlin, the
Moscow Polytechnic Museum, and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
http://www.constantdullaart.com
George Grosz
George Grosz (1893 – 1959) was a German artist known especially for his caricatural
drawings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New
Objectivity group during the Weimar Republic before he emigrated to the United States in
1933.
Guerrilla Girls
Gorilla masks are the trademark of the Guerrilla Girls, a group of anonymous female artists
from New York who have been operating under the names of deceased women artists (Frida
Kahlo, Eva Hesse, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gertrude Stein and Georgia
OʼKeeffe) since 1985. Nobody knows how big the group really is and who is part of it (hence
their motto ʻWe could be anyone; we are everywhereʼ). In their poster and postcard
campaigns and public appearances, the Guerrilla Girls draw attention to the exclusion of
women and non-white people from the art world. http://www.guerrillagirls.com
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse (ICP) are a horrorcore rap duo from Detroit performing in black-andwhite clown makeup. The band was founded in 1986 by Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and
Shaggy 2 Dope (Joseph Utsler). Their fans call themselves Juggalos and are known to be
violent. But although the bandʼs lyrics are steeped in violence, they include sarcastic and
self- deprecating references. In musical terms, ICP borrow various elements from rock and
metal, which they combine with generic rap.
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The Joker
The Joker is a character who has been fighting the superhero Batman in cartoons, TV series
and films since 1940. It is modeled after the character of Gwynplaine in Victor Hugoʼs novel
Lʼhomme qui rit (1869). On screen, the unfathomable villain with a constant smile on his face
has been played brilliantly, though differently, by Jack Nicholson (Batman, 1989) and Heath
Ledger (The Dark Knight, 2008): while the former portrayed him as a violent criminal, the
latter cast him as madman who revels in chaos and destruction
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a 1988 American science fiction horror comedy movie
made by The Chiodo Brothers. The film is about a race of aliens (who resemble evil clowns)
that arrive on Earth to capture and harvest people to use as sustenance. A sequel entitled
Return of the Killer Klowns from Outer Space in 3D is currently in the works.
Krusty the Clown
Herschel Schmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofski aka Krusty the Clown is a cartoon
character in the animated television series The Simpsons. The star of his own successful TV
show for children, Krusty the Clown show, he is in fact a burnt-out, addiction- riddledand
cynical wreck – a victim of show business.
Laibach
Laibach is a Slovenian and former Yugoslav avant-garde music group associated with
industrial, martial, and neo-classical musical styles. Laibach was formed on 1 June 1980 in
Trbovlje, Slovenia, at the time SFR Yugoslavia. The band represents the music wing of the
Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984.
The name "Laibach" is the German name for Slovenia's capital city, Ljubljana.
http://www.laibach.org
Renzo Martens
Renzo Martens (*1973 in NL) is a Dutch artist and filmmaker. From 1991-1992 he studied
political science at the University of Nijmegen; 1992-1993 at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts,
Ghent; 1993-1996 at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam; and 1999-2000 at the Free
University, Brussels. 2010 ISCP, New York; 2010 - 2015 PhD at the School of Arts, Ghent;
2013 Yale World Fellow. Renzoʼs films have been shown at the 6th Berlin Biennial, Tate
Modern in London, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Van Abbe Museum Eindhoven, Kunsthaus
Graz, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, as well as at numerous film festivals and on public
broadcast channels. Renzo co-founded the Institute for Human Activities in 2010 with legal
structures in Amsterdam, Brussels and Kinshasa. The Institute has launched a five-year
program in the Congolese interior, bringing together artists, thinkers and specialists.
http://www.renzomartens.com
Ronald McDonald
Inspired by the successful American TV clown Bozo, Ronald McDonald made his first
appearance as a mascot of the burger chain McDonaldʼs in a series of TV ads aired in 1963.
Thanks to his presence in advertisements and local franchises as well as his popularity with
children, he soon became the worldʼs best-known publicity character. It isnʼt until recently that
his popularity in surveys has dropped, in line with mounting public criticism of the companyʼs
marketing strategy as obesity in children progresses.
Northampton Clown
The Northampton Clown was first seen on Friday 13 September 2013 and subsequently
reappeared at regular intervals across the city. Images showed him wearing white makeup, a
red nose and a red fringe of hair, and holding a bunch of balloons or a teddy bear. For more
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than a month he plied his strange trade in this industrial town in the East Midlands region of
England, standing on street corners and waving. Many people were concerned, some even
genuinely worried. The Northampton Clown, who bore resemblances to Pennywise in
Stephen Kingʼs novel It, became a global media phenomenon. His identity was eventually
revealed, as it appeared that he was a 22-year-old student.
https://www.facebook.com/spotnorthamptonsclown
Novi kolektivizem
Novi kolektivizem (NK) is the design section of the Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK)
movement, founded in 1984 to meet the design needs and develop the image of the newborn
organisation. Novi Kolektivizem is led by professional designer Darko Pokorn and consists of
members Roman Uranjek, Dejan Knez, and Miran Mohar, associates from Laibach and Irwin.
New Collectivism designs posters, records covers, books, passports and NSK letterheads.
Its designs for Laibach merchandising won an award at the 1994 Ljubljana Biennial of
Industrial Design (BIO), and it has also overseen the main designs for construction of
the NSK State website. NK also undertakes numerous external commissions, carrying out
design work for clients such as the Museum of Modern Art (Ljubljana), Radio-Television
Slovenia (RTV Slovenia), the new Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (Ljubljana) and
MoMA P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (New York). http://www.passport.nsk.si/
Pennywise
Pennywise, a sadistic clown handing out colourful balloons, is one of the manifestations of
the primal evil force in Stephen Kingʼs novel It, published in 1986 and filmed in 1990. A
deceitful incarnation of evil, the character of Pennywise has heavily influenced
representations of scary clowns in the popular culture of the 1980s and beyond.
Der Plan
Der Plan is a German-speaking electronic band founded by Moritz Reichelt aka Moritz R®,
Kai Horn and Frank Fenstermacher in 1979 (originally under the name Weltaufstands plan,
literally ʻPlan for Global Upheavalʼ). It is considered to be one of the precursors of the Neue
Deutsche Welle, or New German Wave. As early as 1979 Der Plan sang ʻGefährliche Clowns
stehnʼ am Straßenrandʼ (Dangerous clowns are standing by the side of the road) in a song
released on their debut album Geri Reig (1980). With Da vorne steht ʻne Ampel (Thereʼs a
traffic light over there), the band took a musical turn which it later termed ʻelectronic popʼ.
This single effectively became one of the first German New Wave hits.
http://gerireig.blogspot.de/
Pogo der Clown
John Wayne Gacy (1942–1994) was an American serial killer who was convicted of the
sexual assault and murder of 33 boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. He became
known as the Killer Clown because he attended street parties dressed in a clown costume of
his own making and entertained children as Pogo the Clown. Gacy, who received the longest
sentence ever handed down to a serial murder (21 natural life sentences and 12 death
penalty verdicts) was executed at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet in 1994.
Abner Preis
Abner Preis (*1975 Hadera, Israel) was raised in Philadelphia, where he earned a BFA at
Tyler School of Fine Arts. He is presently working on an MFA at the Dutch Art Institute in
Arnhem, NL. The artist is known for his interactive public performances and mixed-media
work, with the concept of traditional story-telling as the central aspect. Appropriation, the
element of surprise, participation, playfulness and political and social engagement are
elements that appear throughout Preisʼ work, whether performance, drawing, video,
installation or photography. Preis has exhibited his work and performed in De Kunsthal,
Showroom Mama, Solo Presentation Scope Miami, Museum Jan Cunen, Twent Beinnalle,
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Museum Twentsewelle, Dordrechts Museum, IFFR (International Film Festival Rotterdam).
Preis has been the recipient of several artist residencies in KunstHuis SYB, Museum Quartier
Vienna, Foundation B.A.D., Kunst and Complex and was nominated for the Illy Prize at Art
Rotterdam in 2010. He regularly performs in international art and public spaces,
independently or in collaboration with his collective, The Dogs of Shame. Preis lives and
works in Rotterdam. http://abnerpreis.com/
Pussy Riot
Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist punk rock protest group based in Moscow. Founded in
August 2011, it has a variable membership of approximately eleven women (some of them
former members of the political artist group Voina) ranging in age from about 20 to 33. They
stage unauthorised provocative guerrilla performances in unusual public locations, which are
edited into music videos and posted on the Internet. Their lyrical themes include feminism,
LGBT rights, opposition to the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom they
regard as a dictator, and links between Putin and the leadership of the Russian Orthodox
Church. In March 2012, three group members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (*1989), Maria
Alyokhina (*1988), and Yekaterina Samutsevich (*1982), were arrested and charged
with hooliganism. http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com/
The Residents
The Residents are an avant-garde band from San Francisco. Formed in 1969, they are
known for their flashy costumes and deconstruction of pop music tunes. During their live
concerts the four man band always perform in disguise, with tuxedos, top hats and eyeball
helmets as their trademark accessories. Besides publishing more than 40 (concept) albums,
The Residents count among the pioneers of the video clip. Similarly, their CD-ROM Freak
Show (1994) and their adventure game Bad Day on the Midway (1995) are well ahead of
their time. http://www.residents.com
Roee Rosen
Roee Rosen (*1963 in Rehovot, Israel) is an Israeli-American artist, filmmaker and writer. He
studied Philosophy and Comparative Literature studies, Tel Aviv University (1984), received
his BFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York (1989) and MFA from Hunter College, New
York (1991). Rosen's work explores identity and the notions of evil, specifically addressing
the Jewish people's collective memory and the power of creativity in extreme situations of life
and death. Through video, painting and narrative, Rosen's humor can be thought of as at
once self-deprecating and incendiary. He is a professor at Ha'Midrasha College of Art, KfarSaba, and at the Bezalel Art Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem. http://roeerosen.com
Aura Rosenberg
Aura Rosenberg (*1949 in New York) studied at Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
(BA), at Hunter College, NY (MA) and participated in the Whitney Museum Independent
Study Program New York. Her work has been shown in venues including the Institute of
Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, MoMA PS1 in New York, White Columns in New York, the
Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, the Pera Museum
in Istanbul, and the Macro Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, a.o. Rosenberg has
published three volumes of photography: Headshots (Stop Over Press), Berlin Childhood
(Steidl Verlag/D.A.A.D.), and Who Am I? What Am I? Where Am I? (Hatje Cantz Verlag). She
lives and works in New York and Berlin. http://www.aurarosenberg.com
Christoph Schlingensief
Christoph Maria Schlingensief (*1960, Oberhausen – † 2010, Berlin) was a German film
and theatre director, actor, artist, and author. Starting as an independent underground
filmmaker, Schlingensief later began staging productions for theatres and festivals, which
often were accompanied by public controversies. In 2011 Christoph Schlingensief
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represented Germany at the Venice Biennale. KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin) and
MoMA P.S.1 (New York) presented a comprehensive retrospective of his oeuvre in 20132014. http://www.schlingensief.com
Cindy Sherman
The American artist Cindy Sherman (*1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey) is one of the most
prominent representatives of staged photography. From 1974-1976 she studied at the Art
School of Buffalo where she discovered photography in 1975. Already in her earliest works,
created in the mid-1970s, she stages exclusively herself. With the help of various
accessories (clothing, make-up, hair pieces, prostheses) she impersonates fictional
characters. In this way she created one of todayʼs most significant bodies of photographic
work. She is well known for her conceptual photographic series that approach questions of
identity, role models, body and sexuality. Since 1977 she lives and works in New York.
Super A
Super A became known as the Alter Ego of the world famous stuntman Evil Knievel. Today
he is a theologist, an agitator, and an active follower of the Cargo Cult. Super A is living
among us. http://www.perfektewelt.com
Jeffrey Vallance
Jeffrey Vallance (*1955 in Redondo Beach, California) received a BA from California State
University, Northridge in 1979 and an MFA from The Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles in 1981.
Best known for projects that blur the lines between object-making, installation, performance,
curation and anthropological study, Vallanceʼs work has long challenged critics to define the
artistʼs unique multidisciplinary cross-pollination. Vallance has exhibited in museums and
galleries around the world, including such places Dakar, Reykjavik, Zürich, Milan, Paris,
Mexico City, Amsterdam, Vienna, Stockholm, London, Athens, Sydney and Tasmania,
Australia. He has appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and was host of MTV's The
Cutting Edge (both 1983). In 2004, he received the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim
Memorial Foundation award for installation art. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Vallance
The Yes Men
The Yes Men are a group who use any means necessary to agree their way into the fortified
compounds of commerce, and then smuggle out the stories of their undercover escapades to
provide a public glimpse at the behind-the-scenes world of big business. The stories are
often both shocking and hilarious. They have been called "the Jonathan Swift of the Jackass
generation" by author Naomi Klein. The Yes Men have impersonated World Trade
Organization, Dow Chemical Corporation, and Bush administration spokesmen on TV and at
business conferences around the world. They do this (a) in order to demonstrate some of the
mechanisms that keep bad people and ideas in power, and (b) because it's absurdly fun.
Their main goal is to focus attention on the dangers of economic policies that place the rights
of capital before the needs of people and the environment. Right now they're focused on
passing carbon emissions laws in the USA. http://theyesmen.org/